Articles

The gavel is down : the High Court is in session

October 12, 2015 | By KATE POMEROY

As is its tradition, the Supreme Court began its new Term on the first Monday in October. In the weeks leading up to that day, many organizations host “preview” events (especially in Washington, DC) with leading Supreme Court advocates and other legal experts to discuss the most important cases the Court has agreed to hear. … ...

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Government unions : the Praetorian Band of the government

September 11, 2015 | By TIMOTHY SANDEFUR

America’s founding fathers knew their ancient history well. The experiences of Greece and Rome were almost the only guides they had when fashioning a government that wasn’t a monarchy. And one thing they feared was what they called “Caesarism”: the tendency of a popular government to devolve into competing teams, each graspi ...

Articles

President's weekly report — September 11, 2015

September 11, 2015 | By ROB RIVETT

Equality under the law: Race-preferences in university admissions Pacific Legal Foundation has been leading the fight for equality under the law since its founding in the early 1970s.  Back in 1978, we argued against racial preferences in the Supreme Court in the Bakke v. Regents of the University of California. And we have been fighting for Ab ...

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Debating the First Amendment rights of workers

July 01, 2015 | By TIMOTHY SANDEFUR

This morning I joined KQED’s Forum to talk about the Friedrichs v. CTA case which the Supreme Court will hear next term. The case involves the question of whether the government may force public employees to subsidize unions against their will. You can listen online here. Later on, I talked with Thom Hartmann about the … ...

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Forced union fees should end

April 25, 2014 | By PACIFIC LEGAL FOUNDATION

The government’s days of forcing non-union members to pay union fees are likely numbered.  A few weeks ago, I discussed two pending cases challenging such fees and I explained that such fees amount to compelled speech.  This post explains why those fees are unconstitutional.  When defending compelled speech, the government faces an uphill ...

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Compelled union dues are compelled speech

February 28, 2014 | By PACIFIC LEGAL FOUNDATION

The United States Supreme Court recently heard oral argument in Harris v. Quinn, an important compelled-speech case. This case challenges Illinois’ classification as “state employees” of all home health-care workers that receive reimbursements from the government’s Medicaid program. As a part of that classification, Illinois ...